Clock is ticking to save Dovre Club

Carol Ness, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 3, 1997

1997-12-03 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Clinging to life, the Dovre Club has won another two days - until 2 p.m. Thursday - to persuade a judge to keep the Women's Building from shutting down the Mission District bar.

Municipal Judge George Choppelas, saying the nearly year-old eviction case "seems to be evolving into legendary if not Byzantine proportions," added his own twist on Tuesday.

He denied a last-minute motion by Dovre Club manager Brian McElhatton, who contends he is the bar's rightful owner, to intervene in a settlement that gave the Women's Building possession of the space occupied by its tenacious tenant at midnight Sunday.

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At a 2 p.m. hearing, Choppelas gave McElhatton exactly 48 hours to seek a stay of the eviction in Superior Court.

The case, which has been in and out of court since July, appeared to be over Monday when the Women's Building announced a settlement with John Cassidy, who inherited the bar after his uncle, longtime Dovre Club owner Paddy Nolan, died last November.

Since the Women's Building managers told the bar at 3541 18th St. last December it would have to leave, Cassidy has fought the eviction, aided by a spirited and well-connected band of Dovre Club drinkers. The Women's Building wants the space for new services, including a child care center, and plans to sink $5.9million into earthquake proofing.

But on Nov. 24, Cassidy, who was sick of legal bills, according to his lawyer, cut a deal and agreed that the bar would move out. The settlement was kept secret, even from McElhatton, until Monday, when the Women's Building changed the locks.

McElhatton cried foul, producing an agreement to buy the bar from Cassidy for $55,000, signed by both on June 25. He changed the locks again and has kept the bar open.

"Indispensable party'&lt;

In court Tuesday, Eisenberg argued that the contract made McElhatton an "indispensable party" to any settlement.

The contract said that in buying the club, the barkeep was agreeing to "take over the defense of the leasehold dispute."

Eisenberg said McElhatton had paid at least $20,000 to the lawyer who represented Nolan's estate, and believed the lawyer was looking out for his interests until Cassidy let him go and settled the case.

He asked Choppelas to reconsider the settlement and his order giving the Women's Building possession of the Dovre Club space because of these "new facts that have come to light."

But Women's Building attorney Martha Caron said trial transcripts will show that in July, McElhatton was in court when ownership of the bar was discussed and did not mention the weeks-old contract then.

At the time, she said, the Dovre Club's own attorney forced the Women's Building to refile its eviction naming the estate of Paddy Nolan as the bar's owner, instead of McElhatton and Cassidy. The estate is still in probate, with Cassidy executor.

"This is a shell game," Caron said of the ongoing ownership dispute.

Didn't take over ownership&lt;

Cassidy's probate lawyer, Robert Harp, said the contract with McElhatton was merely an agreement to sell - but that McElhatton had never applied to transfer the liquor license or done anything else to actually take over as owner.

Choppelas ruled against McElhatton but gave him two days to appeal to a higher court, where both sides expressed confidence they would win.

"In essence, it's a decision in which he acknowledges that there are issues important enough that they need to be reviewed in Superior Court," said Eisenberg. If he loses there, he said, he'll appeal as far as the Supreme Court.

Susan Burnett Luten, another Women's Building attorney, said Cassidy and McElhatton "can argue till the cows come home" about the bar's ownership - but because of the judge's order, whoever owns it will have to run it out of some other building.

"That doesn't stop the eviction," she said.

Judge gives bar manager 48 hours to halt eviction in

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